Anusorn Singhapakdi

Antecedents, consequences, and mediating effects of perceived moral intensity and personal moral philosophies

This study uses responses from a survey of marketing professionals in a structural equation model linking antecedents and consequences of two dimensions of personal moral philosophies (idealism and relativism) and perceived moral intensity (PMI). Mixed support is found for hypothesized effects of gender, religiosity, education, experience, salary, and corporate ethical values on idealism and relativism. Idealism increases and relativism decreases PMI in four ethical scenarios. PMI increases perceptions of ethical problems, which reduce intentions to act unethically. The study tests whether relationships between variables, revealing that PMI has direct as well as indirect effects on intentions. Intentions are also influenced by gender: women have more ethical intentions than men, on average, and this effect is not mediated by other variables in the model.

Marketing Ethics: Factors Influencing Perceptions of Ethical Problems and Alternatives

This article provides a partial test of the emerging descriptive theories in marketing ethics. The data were obtained from a mail survey of American Marketing Association members. The results tend to support the hypotheses that ethical policies of organizations and Machiavellianism influence many aspects of the marketers ethical decision making.

The Perceived Importance of Ethics and Social Responsibility on Organizational Effectiveness: A Survey of Marketers

A necessary but insufficient condition for marketers to act ethically and be socially responsible is that they must perceive ethics and social responsibility to be important. However, little is known about marketers’ perceptions regarding the importance of ethics and social responsibility components of business decisions. The objectives of this study are (1)to assess the marketing practitioners’ perceptions regarding the importance of ethics and social responsibility in achieving organizational effectiveness, and (2) to analyze the relative influences of selected personal characteristics and organizational factors underlying a marketer’s perceived importance of ethics and social responsibility. The results from a mail survey of American Marketing Association members indicate that the marketers generally believe that ethics and social responsibility are important components of organizational effectiveness. The results partly indicate that there is a positive relationship between a marketer’s corporate ethical values and his or her perceptions regarding the importance of ethics and social responsibility. The results also indicate that the marketers’ perceptions regarding ethics and social responsibility can be explained by idealism and relativism.

Consumer ethics: an application and empirical testing of the Hunt‐Vitell theory of ethics

Analyzes how consumers make decisions involving ethical issues. In particular, investigates the extent to which consumers rely on ethical norms (deontology) versus the perceived consequences of behaviors (teleology) in forming their ethical judgments and in determining behavioral intentions in situations involving ethical issues. The results based upon three studies, including a national sample of adult consumers, reveal that consumers tend to rely primarily on ethical norms and less on perceived consequences in forming ethical judgments. Results also indicate that consumers, to a large degree, rely primarily on ethical norms in determining their behavioral intentions in situations involving ethical issues. Finally, a number of personal characteristics were tested as moderating variables, but results were generally inconclusive, despite some evidence that education and religiosity may be moderators.

Marketing norms: The influence of personal moral philosophies and organizational ethical culture

This study develops a scale, using the American Marketing Association’s code of ethics, to measure the marketing-related norms of marketing practitioners. The scale has five dimensions: 1) price and distribution, 2) information and contracts, 3) product and promotion, 4) obligation and disclosure, and 5) general honesty and integrity. The relative influence of personal moral philosophies and organizational ethical climate on the norms of marketers was also examined in this study.

How important are ethics and social responsibility? ‐ A multinational study of marketing professionals

States that in the present era of global marketing, as more companies enter international markets, ethical problems are likely to increase. As companies and their managers deal with their counterparts in different countries, there is a need to understand the latter’s ethical decision‐making processes. Divergence in ethical behavior and attitudes of marketing professionals across cultures can be explained by, among other variables, differences in perceptions regarding the importance of ethics and social responsibility in achieving organizational effectiveness. This study investigates the variation in those perceptions among marketing professionals from Australia, Malaysia, South Africa, and the USA. The variation is explained by country differences (cultural differences, differences in the economic environment, and differences in legal/political environment), organizational ethical climate, and selected demographic characteristics of the marketer (gender and age).

A cross‐cultural study of consumer perceptions about marketing ethics

Given the ever‐increasing globalization of economies, growing numbers of marketing firms are expecting more of their profits to be derived from international sales. Global competition is ferocious; thus, developing long‐term partner relationships often becomes a significant competitive advantage. Corporate ethics are of pivotal importance in global business, though globalization also complicates ethical questions, because an individual’s culture affects his/her ethical decision making. Failures to account for the effects of differences in consumers’ culturally‐based ethical values will hinder a marketer’s efforts to expand internationally. Compares consumers from Malaysia and the USA in terms of their perceptions of marketing ethics situations, their attitudes toward business and salespeople, and their personal moral philosophies. The survey results reveal some significant differences between the consumers from these two countries.

Research Note: Selected Factors Influencing Marketers' Deontological Norms

This paper focuses on deontological norms of professional marketers. The data were obtained from a mail survey of American Marketing Association members. The results generally indicate that deontological norms are a function of Machiavellianism and locus of control. That is, as hypothesized, those high in Machiavellianism and with an “external” locus of control tend to be “lower” in their deontological norms than their counterparts. This study, however, found no relationship between organizational culture and deontological norms. Nevertheless, to a certain degree, an organization, by means of its codes of ethical enforcement, can affect its employees’ deontological norms in a positive way. The results also indicate that business experience positively correlate with deontological norms and that there was no significant relationship between gender and deontological norms.

Some Important Factors Underlying Ethical Decision Making of Managers in Thailand

This study analyzes the marketing ethics decision-making process of Thai managers. In particular, it examines the relative influences of ethical perceptions, religiosity, personal moral philosophies, and corporate ethical values on ethical intentions of managers in Thailand. Managers enrolled in executive MBA or special MBA programs from public and private universities throughout Thailand were selected as target respondents. The survey results generally indicate that both dimensions of moral philosophies, idealism and relativism, are significant predictors of a Thai managers ethical intention, as hypothesized. The results also reveal that perceived ethical problem is a positive factor of a Thai managers ethical intention. The results generally support our hypothesis regarding the influence of corporate ethical values, that Thai managers in organizations with higher levels of ethical values tend to have a more ethical intention than the managers in organizations with lower levels of ethical values. The survey results regarding the influences of religiosity, however, are mixed.

Do Consumers’ Ethical Beliefs Vary with Age? A Substantiation of Kohlberg’s Typology in Marketing

According to Kohlberg’s cognitive moral development typology, people’s beliefs and judgments of right or wrong may change as they move through stages of moral development. This is due to personal and life experiences. To test this typology in marketing, three age-groups of consumers (adults, teenagers, and children), consisting of 1019 respondents, were compared in terms of their ethical perceptions, Machiavellianism, relativism, and idealism. MANOVA analysis indicated that children were the most tolerant to questionable practices, most Machiavellian and relativistic, and least idealistic, than teenagers and adults. Adults were the most conservative group. Adults, such as family members, school teachers, television stars, and professionals may serve as role models and assist children and teenagers in shaping their behaviors toward veracity and integrity.